But the Anthem is stirring especially as an instrumental. When the flag is raised at an Olympic award ceremony, there is a sense of reverence that comes from the music.

And the finale is just right. It’s hard not to yell, “Play ball!” or cheer when it’s over.

Keep the anthem. It’s not only about tradition. It works!

Beautiful Nebraska, peaceful prairie land,
Laced with many rivers, and the hills of sand,
Dark green valleys cradled in the earth-
Rain and sunshine bring abundant birth…

Beautiful Nebraska, as you look around,
you will find a rainbow reaching to the ground;
all these wonders by the Master’s hand;
Beautiful Nebraska land–

I have no voice training at all and have performed it in public. All it requires is a few minutes of practice.

Perhaps that’s the problem: victory as a goal – it’s politically incorrect today.

Really, do we want the land of the free to subordinate it’s anthem to the lowest common denominator? I think it says something about us that even our anthem is only as good at the person that sings it instead of descending into some gray “everything is ok/meaningless” that those suggestions seem to lead to.

In fairness, most of them are fine songs that I don’t have a problem with… But each has central problems that disqualify it for various reasons. If the worst thing about our anthem is that it’s hard to sing then that’s not so bad.

It’s a beautiful song. Leave it alone. Songs like this are symbols. Patriotism is a kind of belief system. Belief systems don’t take changes in symbolism well. There are lots of problems with changing this that should be considered. Really, you’d have to come up with something new that was better AND have a great reason to do it.

Let us descend into mediocrity in this, our nations song, as we have in so many other ways just so “everyone” has the ability. This idea is similar to giving everyone a college degree without merit so we all are equal and it has the same consequences – mediocrity.

The United States was not founded on mediocrity nor should we succumb to even these “little” things just because a small group can’t hit a high note or exercise breath control. As said in the lyrics, no matter the adversity of the moment, we persevere. Without such we may find ourselves no longer the land of the free and home of the brave.

race_9r on June 12, 2009 at 8:11 PM

has good points. I would not change it, but suspect the libs will and John Lennon’s Imagine or “Obama Bless America” will win. God Bless America is best song, but still would keep SSB.

Dark-Star

Thanks, Dark-Star. I was going to call Kinsley something more vulgar, but you nailed it.

It’s a question. Does that banner still wave..?

When our founding fathers set up America’s system of government, it was a grand experiment, without a guaranteed outcome.

Lincoln at Gettysburg wondered aloud whether any nation so conceived could long endure.

When I hear, or (Lord help us) sing the national anthem, I think of it in those terms… How’s the experiment going? Still the ‘land of the free’, and all that?

How’s about Glenn’s version:

All Hail Obama!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46t_nrySg4

*Snicker*

Zippy_Slug on June 12, 2009 at 4:26 PM

Thanks for this gem Zippy_Slug.

At least TSSB only has it in the last verse.

TLIYL: definitely out for Kinsley’s reasons.

Stay with TSSB. It’d help a lot if it’s started low enough, in the key of B major or even lower.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

What’s better than this?

massrighty on June 12, 2009 at 9:09 PM

Amen. But this last verse is precisely why they would like to get rid of it. You know, the mention of God is against the separation of church and state…you know, the mention of God offends some (<5%).

Star-Spangled Banner is a portrait of the birth of the nation, and its uniqueness. Where most of the others see America as a constant, a done deal — SSB reminds us that it’s all vulnerable. It’s all worth fighting (and dying) for, and there will never be a time when that possibility disappears.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Even the other great ones laud what we have — our real heritage is how we came by it, and what we must do to preserve it.

I’ve never had a hard time singing it, as long as it doesn’t start too high and my daughter, a soprano, sings it beautifully.

What really bugs me is that we’ve made it a performance when it should be sung by everyone, no matter how bad. It was embarrassing during the NFL game in London when the entire stadium sang their anthem while some mediocre singer sang ours.

In spite of all that, I say we keep our national anthem. No matter how much we love peace, it was winning that particular war that enabled us to continue as a nation.

But I abominate the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It treats the Union Army as if it were the Hand of God, and that’s a dangerous attitude for any nation to have. I’m a Christian and a patriot, but we should never confuse God with government.

God Bless America, or My Country Tis of Thee, on the other hand, sticks to asking God to bless us as a nation, without confusing national goals for God’s will.